Photograph
by Brian Powell
Summary: One Shot. Inspired by the song 'Photograph' by Nickelback. A Pokemon Trainer goes on his journey leaving his hometown where he treasures his good old days.


**Photograph (One-Shot Songfic)**

_A/N: Inspired by the song 'Photograph' by Nickelback_

Here I was, standing in my old bedroom holding a photograph baring a picture of me and best pals. That was a couple of days before we went our separate ways as pokemon trainers. One my best friends, an Ursaring, a bear pokemon in case you didn't know, named Bruiser was standing next to me also looking at the picture.

You can't see it but it was a pretty funny picture. We were doing some funny poses like those heroes from Pokemon Rangers; we were fans of that show. Every time I look at this, I laugh. It also reminds me of a particular song. How does it go?

_Look at this photograph  
Every time I do it makes me laugh  
How did our eyes get so red  
And what the hell is on Joey's head_

We took a break from my pokemon training for a couple of days, staying at my parents' house, get refitted, get a few laughs of the old crowd and all. Despite all that, there were friends who I miss a lot - Joey, Kim, Teddy, Brian, Dawn, and others. Today, I'm starting off again. I got my clothes, maps, pokeballs and all.

We said goodbye to the old crowd the night before. We made our downstairs to the front door where my parents were waiting for me. My mom, as usual, was letting out a few tears while my dad was holding them back but I knew what he was feeling inside.

We got into a big group hug, telling them how much we loved each other. In my experience, telling your parents is a really rare occasion. Although you don't say it all the time, they know that you love them.

After we left the house we took one last look around the town.

_And this is where I grew up  
I think the present owner fixed it up  
I never knew we'd ever went without  
The second floor is hard for sneaking out_

This is the town where I grew up most of my life before my training days. I had many friends here but most of them are gone now. A few people that remained here were the old folks, they had businesses running. Like that ice cream parlour, one of my favourite places for obvious reasons but I'll tell you anyway, I used to go there a lot, not just to treat myself but also hang around with my friends. Because of that, I made friends with the parlour owner too.

We continued walking down that road until we came across my old school.

_And this is where I went to school  
Most of the time I had better things to do  
Criminal record says I broke in twice  
I must have done it half a dozen times_

It looked an old building that existed since... a really long time, probably from the 1900's, I never asked how long the building stood there. Like my friends in the old days think, I found some of my lessons in there okay but at most times boring. I remembered playing hooky a couple of times... and got caught both times and I got grounded because of that. It taught me some discipline but the real lesson for that is if you're gonna start something bad, don't get caught.

I wondered whether or not I should go back, learn a bit more, tell the young kids how I was doing... but then I thought, nah. Too much hassle, less fun.

_I wonder if It's too late  
Should I go back and try to graduate  
Life's better now than it was back then  
If I was them I wouldn't let me in_

We continued walking to the town's exit until I saw a new arcade place. I remembered the good times when I hanged out in the old arcade, along with Bruiser who was a Teddiursa back then.

_Remember the old arcade  
Blew every dollar that we ever made  
The cops seen us hanging out  
They said somebody went and burned it down_

I almost blew every dollar from my allowance that my dad gave to me playing those arcade games. It was until I found the arcade completely burnt into ashes one morning. I was told that was burning during the night before and they found out that it was one of them arcade cables took too much heat that it lit up, even though the machines were switched off. That happened a couple of weeks before I set off on my first day. It's a good thing that they rebuilt it. Maybe next time I come back, I'll play a few.

Next place I spotted, the groceries. My dad used to drive me there to do our weekly shopping and almost every time he does we turn on the radio and sing a bunch of songs. He sometimes imagined what it would be like if we were to be in band... yep, I found it pretty weird too.

_We used to listen to the radio  
And sing along with every song we know  
We said someday we'd find out how if feels  
To sing to more than just the steering wheel_

Remember when I mentioned about Kim being one of my best friends? Well, she was the first girl I kissed. It was on a date when I was teenager after I competed in one of them pokemon leagues. She and I had been best friends when we were kids before we went our separate until four years later when met up on our hometown... she became gorgeous.

It was at the movies, nice romantic comedy movie. I was looking forward to end the night by kissing the girl that I had a crush on... her. I was walking her home and I was a little nervous... and then a little more nervous when we got to her door.

I felt so nervous I couldn't take anymore. My stomach was wobbling around like crazy and felt some steam reaching up to my head while I was hurrying off. She called me back and I suddenly stopped. I slowly turned around and looked back at her, not knowing what she wanted. She slowly walked up to me with a blush on her face. She looked up to me and moved her face towards mine until her lips touched mine.

We kissed. We were actually kissing. And it was not a small kiss either, we're talking about our lips pleasantly stuck for like until I miss one of my favourite TV shows but I wouldn't care because of this.

_Kim's the first girl I kissed  
I was so nervous that I nearly missed  
She's had a couple of kids since then  
I haven't seen her since god knows when_

What happened after that? Nothing much, I was only staying there for a couple of days and so was she. We were going our separate way as well. It turned out that this relationship was not meant to be cos she had pokemon on the mind and so did I.

It was a few years later when I found out that Kim met someone else. Got that news from Kim herself. I felt a little sad about that but I was also happy for her because she's a friend... and she'll always have a place in my heart.

Feeling a bit shaky here, and she's not the only reason why...

_I miss that town, I miss the faces  
You can't erase, you can't replace it  
I miss it now, I can't believe it  
So hard to stay, so hard to leave it_

If I could I relive those days  
I know the one thing that would never change

A lot of things have changed here – most of my friends are gone, buildings being replaced, new cars showing up. But there's one thing that'll never change...

The good old days...

_Every memory of looking out the back door  
I have the photo album spread out on my bedroom door  
It's hard to say it, time to say it  
Goodbye, goodbye_

We're now out of town, now standing in a forest. We took one last look at the town that we grew up for a minute before we have to say it...

_Every memory of walking out the front door  
I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for  
It's hard to say it, time to say it  
Goodbye, goodbye_

And the lyrics are true, for moments like this it's hard to say that word but it's time to say it.

_Look at this photograph  
Every time I do it makes me laugh  
Every time I do it makes me…_

Sad? It puzzles me why the guy didn't finish the last sentence of the song. Well, I guess it must the emotion getting into his head that stopped him singing the last part.

Anyways, I have one more to say before I go, not that it'll make me feel any different to what I'm feeling right now…

Goodbye...

END!


End file.
